Devices to assist people who have physical disabilities or infirmities are well known. Many of these attempts provide a means for the user to utilize parts of the body which are not disabled to perform a desired task in place of the disabled body parts. Examples of these devices include U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,929, issued in the name of Snyder, Jr., which describes a portable device for the hand operation of a motor vehicle acceleration pedal and U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,312, issued in the name of Peters, which describes a hand control for motor vehicles.
More severely infirmed individuals are often restricted to a bed for long periods of time. Often times a bedridden person can begin to cramp due to the lack of ability to move or reposition themselves on the bed and lack the ability to performing any type of stretching or exercise in an attempt to minimize stiffness or atrophy. An example of an attempt to provide relief is U.S. Pat. No. 6,027,434, issued in the name of Gibbons, which describes a device for relieving leg cramps comprising a shaft, a handle for gripping, and a stirrup for receiving a foot of the user that provides a means to stretch the legs of the user while in the supine position in bed. Additionally, these bed-ridden patients in nursing homes, hospitals or at home, frequently have difficulty trying to position or reposition themselves upon a bed. This usually results in the patient relying on the help of others in order to reposition themselves. Patients regularly desire to be repositioned, especially those in beds with adjustable head and leg elevating means which often inadvertently move the patient into uncomfortable positions on the bed. The patient is then forced to wait for this assistance and as providing this assistance requires strength it is not always easy for a care provider to provide this help without the risk of injury. Attempts to assist bed restricted patients with movement while in bed include, U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,929, issued in the name of Crane, which describes a patient-position device comprising a sheet which is placed under the patient that is connected to rope which is also connected to a motor device and pulley system attached to the headboard which can be activated to pull the user upward to the head board and U.S. Pat. No. 6,560,794, issued in the name of Allen et al., which describes a rise assist apparatus comprising a plurality of hand grips and had rails on a frame that enables a user to control movement and regain balance while supporting themselves as they rise out of bed.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives, each of these attempts suffers from disadvantages. Accordingly, there exists a need for a means by which bedridden patients can easily reposition themselves in a bed without the help or assistance of others. The development of the present invention substantially departs from the conventional solutions and in doing so fulfills this need.